THE South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) is in the process of purchasing surgical instruments and operating theatre equipment for the Kingston Public and Victoria Jubilee Hospitals (KPH/VJH).

More than $12 million is being spent.

“The equipment that is being purchased is part of the Region’s drive to ensure that all our facilities, including the KPH and VJH, has the necessary equipment to offer optimal service to the public,” Dr Andrei Cooke, SERHA Board chairman said.

“Close to 6,000 surgeries are done at KPH annually and so there is a great deal of wear and tear on our equipment. Therefore, the equipment being purchased will serve to complement and replace some of the existing set,” he added.

He said the operating theatre equipment being purchased for KPH includes an operating theatre table, a blood warmer, operating theatre lights, stretcher, a treatment table as well as an electrosurgical unit.

Dr Cooke also noted that 58 types of surgical instruments will be purchased for KPH and VJH.

He said the Region has identified and will be implementing a number of projects geared towards improving health care delivery across the Region.

He also noted that SERHA is currently implementing measures to improve customer service.

“We value any feedback from our clients and so we have set up an e-mail address and a toll free number, which we will also be launching in the coming weeks for the public to not only lodge complaints, but make recommendations as to how we can improve on service delivery,” Dr Cooke said. “We are also strengthening our client complaints mechanism in order to ensure that the complaints are dealt with in a more timely and effective manner.”